So much for all that talk about playing for a Pac-12 Conference football championship. UCLA's hopes came crashing back to reality Saturday night on an icy field in Salt Lake City. Utah won its third consecutive game and became bowl eligible at the Bruins' expense. UCLA fell to 5-5 overall, 4-2 in Pac-12 play. Utah is 6-4, 3-4. UCLA moved the ball well from time to time ?- the total offense figures were fairly even, 295 for UCLA, 291 for Utah ?- but the Bruins hurt themselves with penalties early and a huge turnover late.

Reporting from Salt Lake City -- UCLA's "pistol" offense had been efficient and lethal in back-to-back victories over California and Arizona State. On Saturday, the Bruins merely seemed bewildered in a 31-6 loss to Utah. UCLA finished with 295 total yards. Quarterback Kevin Prince labored through his worst game since the 49-20 loss to Texas on Sept. 17. The Bruins had six false-start penalties and a delay of game. Prince had two passes intercepted, one returned for a touchdown.

All running back Derrick Coleman wanted was one yard. He didn't get it. But he did take away a lesson from a goal-line stand by Stanford last month. UCLA got to the four-yard line on its first drive and came away with nothing. Coleman, a 5-foot-11, 240-pound senior, had two tries at scoring — a one-yard run came up one yard short and a third-down effort ended with him in the arms of three Cardinal players just shy of the goal line. "I didn't get in, that's all I remember," Coleman said.

One week UCLA goes with a 212-pound defensive end. The next the Bruins put a wide receiver at defensive back. Call it daring, call it desperate, it has worked. "That is born out of necessity," Coach Rick Neuheisel said. "No. 1, we had attrition because of injuries. No. 2, we weren't having success. " This weekend's surprise was Randall Carroll at cornerback, a position he hasn't played since his senior year at Los Angeles Cathedral High. Carroll, a junior wide receiver, was used in passing situations in the 29-28 victory over Arizona State, usually when UCLA employed four cornerbacks against the Sun Devils' spread offense.

Quarterback Kevin Prince and wide receiver Nelson Rosario connected on a 76-yard scoring pass in a 29-28 victory over Arizona State at the Rose Bowl Saturday, UCLA's longest touchdown pass since its 2007 season opener. A pump fake by Prince suckered two defensive backs, leaving Rosario running free. The play gave the Bruins a 23-14 lead early in the third quarter. The last UCLA scoring pass that was longer was a 77-yard connection between Ben Olson and Joe Cowan against Stanford more than four years ago. Rosario finished with five receptions for 151 yards, moving him into 11th place on UCLA's career receptions list and 10th in receiving yards.

By season's end Rick Neuheisel might want to call Athletic Director Dan Guerrero to his office and demand a raise. What a stunning development this is, a 29-28 heart-throbbing win, UCLA vaulting itself within a couple more king-size miracles of representing the Pac-12 in the Rose Bowl. Dead and buried on national TV two weeks ago, the Bruins did not quit under Neuheisel — as shocking a development as this win over Arizona State was meaningful. "Obviously a lot was broken on that Thursday night [in Arizona]

UCLA quarterback Kevin Prince has turned the ball over in the Rose Bowl. He has been injured in the Rose Bowl. He has been booed in the Rose Bowl. Saturday, he ran all over the Rose Bowl. The quarterback some think should be placed in a plastic bubble for safekeeping was set free against California, a liberating moment for a football team that now has a chance to do what no one thought possible. Prince's 163 yards rushing led the Bruins to a 31-14 victory over California that leaves the UCLA with sit down a clear path to the Rose Bowl game.

Highly touted freshman quarterback Brett Hundley was not ready to play had UCLA needed to replace Kevin Prince against Arizona last week, Coach Rick Neuheisel said Monday. "I'm not afraid to play Brett Hundley," Neuheisel said. "My concern is Brett being ready to play. " Neuheisel said he "thought briefly" about using Hundley, but it was junior Nick Crissman who warmed up late in the game. Crissman didn't play because the Wildcats ran out the clock in a 48-12 victory.

Question: I agree that you should never boo a college athlete but people are sometimes pretty ignorant. I was at the game and heard the boos around me and those close by. I asked if they were booing Prince. The answer was 100% no. They were booing the decision to put Prince in the game. We are starving for success at UCLA and want to see if the freshman kid Hundley just might be the answer. Did you ask the people booing if they were indeed booing Prince? Robert Lorenzi Answer: No more than you asked everyone in attendance — although that might be possible at UCLA home games this year.

UCLA quarterback Kevin Prince never saw the guy coming. He was making a dash for the sideline in the season opener when Houston's D.J. Hayden sent him head over heels. Prince suffered a concussion and a separated shoulder. UCLA quarterback Richard Brehaut has no idea who landed on him. He cut up the middle for five yards last week and a Washington State player plopped down on his left leg. Brehaut hobbled off with a broken bone in the leg. The Bruins' "pistol" offense may need a warning label: Can be hazardous to your quarterback's health.